"I started gambling when I was 17 when I first broke through with Newcastle. I was travelling with the first team and there was a lot of gambling on the bus and I got involved.

”The stars at that time were Alan Shearer, Kieron Dyer, Titus Bramble, Craig Bellamy – big names. Michael Owen joined about four years later. You were talking thousands being gambled, anything up to £30,000. We would go to the bank in the morning before we travelled.

“It was team bonding. You were taking money off each other, but also having a laugh. At 18 I realised it was a problem when I owed a company about £85,000.

“It got to the point when I would set my alarm for three or four in the morning to bet on games in South America. It was taking over my life.”

Blackpool striker Chopra, 29, lifted the lid on the card school culture at the trial of friend John Somerville.